I get a little goofy about rainbows this year. Lately God has let me see a rainbow of some kind almost every other day to remind me that His promise to me is true.
I found the card pictured above when I was standing in line at the post office last week. The snaking queue of people with stacks of packages was out the door, and there were only two employees working (of course). My eyes fell on this greeting card in the display, and I reached out for it. “Look! Look! God sent me a card!” I wanted to whisper to the person next to me in line.
Then I noticed a few inches away there was another rainbow on another greeting card. But that rainbow was coming out of a screaming kitten’s rear end as he rocketed into outer space. I decided maybe it was better not to go around telling people God was sending greeting cards. Because I’d have to explain that He probably wasn’t sending anyone that card. And they would wonder if I was crazy anyway.
Think about it. The Creator of the universe sending cards? Hmm. Do you think He does?
I do. Yes, I think He sends cards all the time. Not only do I think He sends cards, I think He gives presents. And I think He leaves what I call Post-Its for me everywhere.
- For instance, in the last American Airlines flight magazine I read, I saw a random picture of one of the things He and I were talking about just that morning. Actually, there were SIX pictures of it in the magazine, and two more pictures of it in the Delta flight magazine I read on the way home. I tore every one of them out and glued them in my prayer journal later.
- In my last fortune cookie, the tiny fortune — oddly — was a near paraphrase of the Scripture that was written in Sharpie on my shoes that day. I had worn those shoes on purpose for that particular day because I needed God’s Word to be like a prayer offered with every step. That tiny fortune? Glued in the prayer journal.
- The exact moment I started my car, an old, obscure song began to play on the radio station. They never play that song on the radio, but it happens to be the first song on my prayer-walk playlist. And what was the song that immediately followed it? Well, it was another obscure song that is never on the radio. Which just so happens to be the last song on that same prayer-walk playlist. Any time God highlights the first and the last of something in my life, I know He is emphasizing that He — the Alpha and Omega — is all over it. Because you can’t glue songs, I just wrote about it in my prayer journal.
Those are Post-Its, and I like to collect them. You know how fun it is to pull down your car visor or open a cabinet or pick up a coffee cup and find a Post-It from someone who loves you? Well, God is that kind of Suitor. He leaves me Post-Its because He wants to remind me that He is thinking about me all the time.
He’s thinking about you that much too. Every minute. The only difference between someone who receives a lot of Post-Its from God and someone who doesn’t receive a lot of Post-Its from God, is the word RECEIVES. The Great Giver is always giving. But not many people receive. Most people dismiss His endearing gestures, thinking, “Oh, I’m just imagining that!” Other people don’t dismiss them; they just miss them altogether. You have to open your eyes and look. You have to take note.
A tip: you may have noticed that all of the personal examples I mentioned above were connected to prayer. That is not a coincidence. He and I talk a lot. As a result, we have a lot of inside jokes and references to conversations, just like any friends would. The Holy Spirit is my best friend. I don’t expect less from Him than I do from my earthly best friend. That is ridiculous. What she does for me, I have come to expect that He will do, plus even more and better. I talk to her often, so I am not surprised when she sends a quick encouragement regarding something we have recently discussed. But I don’t expect to receive a note or gift or text from a friend I talk to infrequently. You can see how that relates to prayer.
My favorite Post-It from Him from this summer happened at a tiny airport in Tennessee as I waited at the gate after a long rain delay. My flight was already scheduled to arrive at DFW after midnight, even BEFORE there was a rain delay, so I was preparing myself for a long, long, long night. I armed myself with King-sized peanut M&M’s, a huge Dr. Pepper, and a bunch of sermon videos on my phone. I don’t always make the best choices about what I feed my body, but I am deliberate about what I feed my soul.
At the end of one of the sermons on the topic of holding onto good promises, my mind drifted into the dangerous territory of wondering whatever happened to the good promise God gave me in January of this year. I turned off my phone and put my face in my hands. I prayed that God would assure me, in some little way, that the promise was still on His mind as much as it was on mine. Just then, I heard someone gasp and felt the rush of several people walking by quickly. I looked up and was astonished to see what had captured their attention. There was a rainbow — a double rainbow that was also full — stretching over the tarmac. It reached from one large window on the right to the other large window on the left. There was a skylight overhead, and the rainbow glittered through it, as well. It was so big, there was not a vantage point from which I could get the entire rainbow in one photograph. It was like nothing I had ever seen. I took as many pictures as I could to try to capture the way I felt when I saw it. It was like God was latching a sparkling necklace around my neck. That’s how precious and personal it seemed. Judging from the number of people who ran to the window and immediately started snapping and posting their photos to social media, I think everyone in that airport was claiming that rainbow, but I couldn’t help feeling it was just mine.
That’s how sweet God is. He can make each person feel like a corporate gift is only for them.
I heard three gate agents come running to the window, and one of them said loudly, “It’s so close!” I didn’t know what she meant. Can a rainbow be close? I thought they were always in the distance. I followed the agents to see what they were studying, and I saw something I had NEVER seen before! The end of that rainbow — which is obscured by that one piece of wall — was right there on the tarmac! The beam of light was thick and bright, and I wanted to applaud God for such a breathtaking presentation. I tried to get one more picture because I didn’t think anyone would believe that I had actually seen the end of the rainbow (no gold, guys, only a puddle). I didn’t take it though, because the agent at my gate came over and tapped my shoulder, saying, “Are you Ms. Maples? We have been calling and calling you, and you are the only person in this area who hasn’t looked over and acknowledged us. We are boarding, and we are about to leave.”
I sighed. I wasn’t going to make the entire plane wait on me and my silly camera phone. When I walked toward the glass door to go outside to board the prop plane, I saw that the plane was under that enormous rainbow! I laughed. I needed encouragement to keep waiting on the promise, and got the best encouragement I’d ever seen: a full, double rainbow right on the tarmac and right over my plane!
No one can give gifts like God gives. No one.
By the time I walked out to the steps of the plane, the rainbow was gone. But I had seen what I needed to see, and I was not going to turn my back and give up on the One who was pursuing me with His whole heart. He had pulled out all the stops and showed off with that bold display of His affection, and the only appropriate response was to give Him my whole heart in return.
The plane took off, and I played my favorite praise playlist as I looked out the window and watched the Smoky Mountains slip below the clouds. On that entire flight, worship was my affection, the way I reached out to touch His kind face. I decided that I would continue to wear the words of His promise like a ring, like a jewel, like an heirloom, and I would not take it off again unless He asked me to.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Don’t you see? Our faith is His pleasure.
I had another business trip the following week. As I arrived at the airport in South Bend, Indiana, I inwardly smiled and said, “Lord, how are You gonna give me a rainbow on this business trip, huh? It is the sunniest day ever. Not a cloud in the sky. But hey, don’t worry, I’m not complaining. I’m still dizzy-hearted from the treasure You gave me at the last airport.”
Then I looked up and saw a waiting area for kids across from the gates.
I’m not kidding.
NO ONE CAN GIVE GIFTS LIKE GOD GIVES! NO ONE!
The Tennessee rainbow reminds me that Jesus is tender. The Indiana rainbow reminds me that He has a sense of humor. He is simply beyond compare.
My prayer for you today is that you will open your eyes to the Post-Its and presents all around you. And if you get an extra special one from Him, don’t hesitate to comment on this post or on Facebook to tell me about it.
Not only to I enjoy talking about the One I love, I enjoy hearing about Him.
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